It is known to “link” gaming machines to provide a number of additional functionalities. This includes the ability to control the awarding of a prize, as the pool of available funds is greater and the amount of funds available is known rather than having to be estimated. Another functionality of interlinked gaming machines is that secondary gaming is possible. For example, for a given group of interlinked gaming machines, a central display provides the gamers with a visual indication of a presently available jackpot prize that is being incrementally increased as the gamers operate the interlinked gaming machines. It is known by the gamers that the prize will be awarded when it is incremented to a randomly selected value that is less than a predefined value. Typically, the predefined value will also be visually indicated to the gamers by the display.
The use of such functionality is intended to provide additional impetus to the gamers to play the machines and thereby win the jackpot prize in addition to any prize available to be awarded by the respective machine. However, with the increasing sophistication of the gainers and their approach to gaming, the interest in the jackpot prize has diminished.
The discussion of the prior art within this specification is to assist the addressee understand the invention and is not an admission of the extent of the common general knowledge in the field of the invention and is included without prejudice.